Ravnica Allegiance Prerelease Guide and Rankings

Ravnica Allegiance Prerelease Guide and Rankings

Welcome to our Sealed Rankings for Ravnica Allegiance. The plan is to update these rankings as the format progresses, starting with my thoughts moving into Prerelease. While controversy drives discussion, a defined metric for evaluating cards shares with the reader the fundamental assumptions of each format. For Ravnica Allegiance, I used the following form of grading.

Some cards appear at different rankings in different guild evaluations. This is a recognition that each guild has a different strategy, and that some cards support those plans better than others.

A — I am splashing this card or playing its colors. In order to not play an A, you need a compelling reason, such as a restrictive mana cost alongside a weak set of supporting cards.B — I am looking to play this card. It pulls me into these colors. Strong removal spells or otherwise efficient creatures fit solidly into this category. This card may be worth splashing for, but only if it fills a role in your deck or is easy to splash.C — I am playing this if I am in these colors. This card is no better than most cards in your deck.D — I will only play this card if I need space or if it’s a niche sideboard card. This card is usually worthless but has a narrow application.F — Unplayable. This card is worthless. Do not put it into your deck.G — Travis Tier. Sometimes you like a challenge.

Before diving into the ratings for the sealed format, I’ve made note of some important context.

General Notes

Flying is incredibly powerful. With a large portion of the set devoted to flying, cards with reach or that affect flyers are powerful.

The set is aggressive, with small bodies. Adapt and Riot are the main ways to make big creatures, so a smaller curve should be more common.

Most colors have mana sinks. Card advantage is available in every Guild, with the Blue and Green guilds getting extra mana sinks in the form of Adapt.

Fragile creatures are exceptionally poor unless they have flying. There are 1/3 creatures in the early game for every color, so stay away from 1 toughness creatures.

There is no Convoke or Undergrowth to allow for very large bodies, so Adapt does most of the lifting.

Pump spells are good, but at first, glance not as good as in GRN. There is no mentor to pair them with and only a few Spells Matter cards.

Azorious

Azorious is always known for flyers, and Ravnica Allegiance is no exception. This time, however, Azorious is looking to win the game through milling or flyers and is the most defensive guild. Using large toughness creatures to buy enough time for your flyers to end the game, Azorious is the guild of choice for control players.

The A’s

The B’s

The C’s

The D’s

The F

Orzhov

Orzhov is a guild that straddles the line between synergy and aggression. Unlike its prior iteration in Gatecrash, Orzhov now is looking to end the game pretty quickly. With Afterlife serving as a deterrent to blocking, Orzhov is the guild of choice for tempo in this format.

The A’s

The B’s

The C’s

The D’s

The F’s

Simic

Simic is a synergy driven guild in Ravnica Allegiance, much as we saw from Izzet or Golgari in Guilds of Ravnica draft. With large creatures and an array of mana sinks, Simic is well suited to play in the late game and is the guild of choice for players looking to invalidate creatures.

The A’s

The B’s

The C’s

The D’s

The F’s

Rakdos

In Ravnica Allegiance, Rakdos is the most aggressive guild. With multiple forms of burn to facilitate spectacle, as well as a lack of large creatures, Rakdos is the guild of choice for players who want to end the game quickly. Facilitating this strategy are cheap removal spells, efficient early creatures, and many forms of card advantage.

The A’s

The B’s

The C’s

The D’s

Gruul

While more complex than the big creatures it is known for, Gruul is an aggressive guild that has late game strength. With the most haste in the format, Gruul is excellent for attacking through any board state. Gruul is the guild of choice for combat.